"Jada, wake up," Roman said.

Roman was shaking Jada lightly. She opened her eyes and stared at him. He was squatting down next to the bed.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Jada asked.
"You did," Roman answered.
"Did I at least make it inside before passing out?" Jada asked.
"No, we found you in the hallway. We heard something bumping against our door, and there you were," Roman said.
"I'm sorry," Jada said.
"Don't be," Roman smiled. "Look, me and Seth are gonna run out for coffee. There's something you need to know though."
"I'm here," Dean said.

Jada's eyes widened and she sat up fast. There Dean was, sitting on Seth's bed.

"What are you doing here?" Jada asked.
"They called me last night," Dean answered.
"Why can't you just let me be?" Jada asked.
"We need to talk," Dean said.
"We'll be back soon," Roman said.
"If you want us to kick him out when we get back, we will," Seth said.
"But for now, at least hear him out," Roman said. "And Dean, I swear..."
"Yeah yeah, you'll kick my ass if I do anything wrong," Dean smirked.

Roman smirked back and nodded. He and Seth left the room. Jada swung her legs out on the floor. They sat on opposite beds, looking at each other. He cleared his throat and scratched his neck.

"This is hard," he said.
"You're not getting any sympathy here," she said.
"I know. I'm not asking for it," he said. "Damn it, I don't like seeing that."

He pointed at her arms. She looked down and tried covering up by crossing her arms and placing her hands over the bruises. It didn't work and she dropped her arms again. There was no point in lying. He knew. He saw it happen.

"Why him?" He asked.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It just happened one night. I figured a one night stand with him would be fine, but it wasn't enough for him. You know how he is. He just bulldozes over you, and you can't get a word in. Suddenly I was told when and where to be, and I just went with it. I figured I could always leave when I got tired of it but I was fooling myself. I can't leave. I tried but he won't let me. No one gets to leave Brock fucking Lesnar unless he kicks you out."

His heart broke for her. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her.

"Can I come sit on your bed?" He asked.
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"We were supposed to grow old together. I fucking loved you, you stupid piece of shit," he said. "You drunk texted me that last night."
"I remember," she said. "It's weirdly enough the last thing I remember."

She sighed and nodded.

"You can come sit here," she said.

He got up from the bed and went to sit next to her. So close, yet it felt like she was far away. Her eyes swallowed him whole once again, and he almost forgot how to breathe as he got sucked into them.

"What happened?" She asked. "I came home from the European tour, and you were gone. You didn't tell me. You just moved out and left me without as much as saying goodbye."
"I left a note," he said.
"You left a note?" She sneered. "All it said was "I'm sorry". That's it. No explanation. Just that you're sorry. I guess it's okay because you're sorry, right?"

He deserved her anger. He deserved to be hated by her. He deserved everything she had been bottling up inside.

"I supported you when you said you wanted to quit WWE. I supported you when you signed with AEW. I was with you every step of the way, and this is how you treat me in return? I want to fucking know why, Dean. Start talking or get the fuck out of my life!" She said angrily.
"I was depressed," he said. "I didn't know it at the time but I had a depression. It fucked with my brain. I got convinced that the reason I felt like I couldn't get out of bed in the morning was because I knew I was dragging you down. I thought you'd be happier without me, so I left. I thought going to AEW would make it all better, but it only got worse. I started drinking too. You read about that in the news, I'm sure."

She nodded. She had read about it. She had wanted to reach out so badly but she hadn't because she didn't think he would want to hear from her.

"I got sober and I got an online therapist who's helped me so much. I now know it was my depression fucking up everything. It wasn't this place that did it. It was just one of those things that happens without a reason. I was burned out and needed a month or two off. It fed on that and took over. I've now learned to recognize the early signs so I can get help if it happens again before it gets that far out," he said.

She leaned closer. He held his breath. He wanted to kiss her so bad but he needed her to set the pace.

"I loved you," she said. "I would have stuck by your side through this but you didn't even give me the chance."
"I'm so sorry," he said.
"Fuck you, Dean," she said calmly.

She stood up and grabbed her sweater. He stood up too.

"Hit me," he said.

She turned around and looked at him.

"Get it out of your system. Hit me," he said.
"I'm not gonna hit you, Dean," she said.
"Fucking hit me, killer!" He raised his voice.
"I'm not Brock!" She screamed. "I'm never gonna hit a person I love!"

He wrapped his arms around her, and she broke down in his arms.

"You love me?" He asked.
"I don't want to," she answered.
"I love you too," he said.
"You fucking broke me, Dean," she said.
"I'll make it up to you everyday for the rest of my life," he said.
"We can't go back there. Too much time has passed," she said.
"We can if we want to," he said. "And I want to, Jada. I want to so bad. More than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

He leaned down and kissed her. He tightened his arms around her, debating in his head whether or not to just throw her on one of the beds and beg for forgiveness in a different way. He missed going down on her, tasting her, and having her squirm around on the bed under him. They heard someone fumble at the door, and she pushed herself out of his arms.

"No!" She snapped.
"Jada," he said.

He reached for her but she walked towards the door. The door opened, and Roman and Seth stepped inside, carrying two cups of coffee each. They looked at Jada who met them in the door.

"Cappuccino," Seth said.
"Thanks," she said.

She grabbed the cup from him and walked out of the room. They walked further in and found Dean standing on the floor. Roman handed Dean one of the cups he was holding.

"It didn't go well?" Roman asked.
"I said my peace," Dean said.
"And?" Seth asked.
"And she left after I kissed her," Dean said.
"You kissed her?" Roman smirked. "That's positive."
"She left and you find that positive?" Dean asked.
"I don't blame her," Seth said.

Seth sat down on his bed and looked up at Dean.

"I said I'll forgive you for hurting her if she forgives you," Seth said.

Dean sighed, nodded, and sat down on Roman's bed. Roman sat down next to him.

"I told her everything," Dean said.
"That's good," Roman said.
"I wanna tell you too," Dean said. "You deserve to know as much as she did what was wrong with me back then. It's not an excuse but it's an explanation, and it's long overdue."